Terry Lynn Courtney, 61, passed away on Friday January 7, 2022, at her home in Rohnert Park, California after a brief illness. She spent her final days surrounded by family and an abundance of very good and caring friends.

Terry was born on the Fourth of July in 1960 in Oklahoma City, OK. She was the 4th of 6 children. Her family moved to California in 1966. Terry enjoyed being part of a large and close-knit family. Her parents, Richard and Nora Courtney preceded her in death, as did her sister Cathy Eddy. She is survived by her lifelong partner Peter Aigner and Peter’s son Dion. Our family thanks you Peter, for the love, care, and respect you showed our sister for the past 25 years and especially during her final journey. Terry is also survived by her brothers: Mike (Anne) Courtney, Pat (Denise) Courtney and Tom (Maggie) Courtney, and sister Jennifer (Patrick) Courtney-O’Neil.                      

Terry was truly a bright light and one-of-a-kind. She started her career as a retail grocery clerk in 1979, right out of high school. She was of service to her community by spreading a lot of love and joy to the friends and strangers that came through her line at the grocery store. She was adept at reading people’s expressions and analyzing their purchases in order to reach out and share a personal moment. Like the man who was buying chicken soup and saltine crackers whose wife was home recuperating from chemo, or someone who she hadn’t seen in a while who used to come into the store with their husband or wife and now comes in alone. She didn’t miss an opportunity to show a stranger that she cared and that she was there for them. She was so important to so many people. Her family hopes she knows how much she was loved.

Terry’s 15 minutes of fame, well actually it was 4 minutes and 21 seconds of fame, came when she and her best pal Ann Deadman were in the Huey Lewis & the News Power of Love video shot at Uncle Charlies in Corte Madera for the film Back to the Future. They were compensated $1 for their services and as a fiscally conservative member of society, Terry still had that dollar when she passed. 

Terry loved gardening, making beautiful art, arranging flowers, taking rides in the wine country with Peter, baking lots of cookies for her family to enjoy at Christmas time, 4th of July birthday parties (can you believe all these fireworks are for ME??!!), large family parties, trips to Yosemite, her annual trip to Sea Ranch with her quilting group, posting (and liking) on social media, and doting over her many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at a future date per Terry’s request that it take place on a sunny day in spring or summer. We will share the details on this website as well as Facebook and Instagram and we hope to see you then.